Day in the Life, A (Beatles) Easter Eggs

Nick Lauria writes:: Time to set things straight. I am a Beatles fan, own the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band CD (as well as many other Beatles albums), and have listened to it many times. First off, after reading the linear notes, this rumor should immediately be silenced, but obviously the story from the Beatles themselves isn't good enough for some of you, so I'll present it now. Speculation: The funny talking at the end of "A Day in the Life" contains hidden and possibly obscene messages like "I am Santa", "We will f*ck you like Superman", "I never could see Annie", and so on. It probably has something to do with Paul being dead! Ooooooooo, scary! Truth: The funny talking at the end of "A Day in the Life" is simply "nonsense Beatle chatter" (like it says in the linear notes), a recording of the Beatles talking, which was then cut up, spliced back together and random and played back repeatedly. If you think you hear any actual words or phrases, lucky you. You've just experienced coincidence! If any speech was cut up and spliced together at random, someone is bound to hear something. Now of course, maybe someone actually did say the word "Santa" or "Annie", and the word just remained intact through the splice. However, that wouldn't mean anything, since the Beatles were just spouting "nonsense Beatle chatter". Something as long as "We f*cked you like Superman" could definitely not have survived the splice, since such a phrase takes up almost the entire length of the chatter (it's really only about two seconds long, and repeated about 13 times while starting to fade out around the 9th time). I myself seem to hear "never to see any" at the beginning of the chatter, and also something like "Superman" when it is played backwards. Certainly nothing as long as the crap some people come up with. Strangely enough, a lot of the phrases people come up with are almost completely incomprehensible, like "never to of see Annie oh", which makes me wonder why anyone would get all suspicious about it. It's just chatter. By the way, the noise around 4:50 is a chair squeaking. No paper, no "shhh". Also, the only strange noise I can hear during John's "Aah" part is a vaguely tabourine-like sound in the left channel at around 2:57, exactly a half-beat after the first key change to A. Maybe it is Paul laughing. If I'm talking about something different, please let me know. The high-pitch noise right before the chatter is a 15-kilocycle tone put there at the request of John. The only reason I can come up with for this, is because it's John. And finally, Paul is not dead. I thought we established that ages ago. I'll fully analyze this all soon and post it at my site - www.nicklauria.com. Cheers.; 67 of 69 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

brandine writes:: I also noticed a slip-up in "a day in the life" at about 4:50 when the last sudden piano note is still ringing out you can hear a chair squeak and someone go "sshhh".You need to listen pretty hard and it helps if you use earphones (it can be heard in the right earphone).; 25 of 29 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Raising Cain writes:: The chair squeaking heard at the end of the song is actually Ringo's fault. The producer of the song wanted all Beatles (minus George) to play the E major chord on 3 pianos and hold the chord for an extended length of time. Ringo was adjusting his weight on the stool - guess he couldn't sit still. On the vinyl versus, you cannot hear the chair squeaking, only on the CD version (it had a longer ending). You can also hear someone rustling a paper (not Sssss). From: interview notes on the 1987 CD release of the alum.; 17 of 18 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Stef writes:: Here is a direct transcript from the CD booklet, to sort this out, as a few people have mentioned before me. 'The very end of the album typifies the advanced studio trickery applied throughout Sgt. Pepper. After the last droplets of the crashing piano chord of 'A Day in the Life' have evaporated, come a few seconds of 15 kilocycle tone, put there - especially to annoy your dog - at the request of John Lennon. Then, as the 'coup de grace', there is a few seconds of nonsense Beatle chatter, taped, cut into several pieces, and stuck back together at random so that, as George Martin says, purchasers of the vinyl album who did not have an auto return on their record player would say "What the hell's that?" and find the curious noise going on and on ad infinitum in the concentric run out groove." So there, no screwing Santa, no never seeing anyone else, no Santa even. It's just nonsense to suck yall in, and it looks like it worked quite well.; 19 of 24 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Michael Allen writes:: Here's an idea...if the high pitch was supposed to cause dogs to bark at the end of the (then) greatest Beatles album, could this be a reference to "Pet Sounds", still the greatest Beach Boys album, which ends with the sound of Brian Wilson's dogs barking at a train? It is well known that the Beatles and the Beach Boys were in friendly competition with each other during the sixties, and that "Sgt. Pepper" was an 'answer record' to "Pet Sounds".; 19 of 24 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

BritGirl writes:: I think I might have sussed out what's at the end of the Day In The life song at the end where the funny talking is. This is what I've worked out and how I got the Results : When Played forward : slowed down to a speed of 80% 2 things are said when played forward these are (To the best of my knowledge) : 1) "Heaven (Pause here) a fun time" (Sounds like Paul's voice). Maybe something to do with the Paul's Dead myth? You have to listen hard for this one too so keep them ears pricked! 2) "I never could see Annie, uh ho!" Ok I have no idea what this means but that's what it sounds like is being said to me. When Played reversed : Slowed down to a speed of 50% Ok everyone can hear the superman bit when played backwards at normal speed. It took me a while to figure out the first bit though. But when played at half the speed in reverse it sounds like " Paul McCartney was a superman" Another link to the famous Paul's dead myth? You Tell me. For anyone that's interested I have my findings in WAV format at the speeds recommended and if you wish to listen please feel free to email me and I'll pass them on, maybe you can hear something I cant.; 20 of 27 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

RLF writes:: Who censors out the word "crap"?:-); 19 of 30 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Christopher writes:: That little piece of nensense at the end is actually entitled "the sgt. pepper inner groove" Right before all of the words, you can hear a faint, high pitch sound that is supposedly a noise that dogs can pick up pretty well. The idea was to get dogs to bark right before the gibberish started; 8 of 9 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

ChrisY2Jericho writes:: Also on this song, right after the "Woke up fell, out of bed..." part is over, and as John is about 1/3 done with the "Ahhh" vocal part, you can hear a sound, that almost sounds like a sneeze or a drum. The sound is actualy Paul laughing at a flub in the vocals he made on the previous take (Which can be heard in its entirety on Anthology 2). But because John did the "Ahh" part perfectly right after this take, the sound remains on the record today. Very primitive editing in those days.; 5 of 6 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Chris writes:: I always thought that it said "Absolutely never could see any other way. Then it repeats"never could see any other way" 10 times before fading out on the 11th.; 4 of 4 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Lennon18 writes:: Well i don't know about going backwards, I'm not going to screw my album up to find out, but all I hear is "never could be any other way" and "I lost my tie" and a bit of chatter in the background but i could be wrong...; 4 of 5 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Danny writes:: If you have the original vinyl version of Sgt Pepper, play it on a turntable without an auto return system (when one sides finished playing the stylus stays in the run out groove.), you will have to listen to the track then you will hear a high pitched noise then you will get the gibberish playing for as long as you want. (or can stand it!).; 2 of 2 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

skarpathian writes:: The Anthology goof was really hilarious! What gets Paul going is the line (as it is suppose to sound) "....and somebody spoke and I went into a dream.... what he actually says is "....and Everybody spoke and I went into a dream.... then he realises his goof and says "Oh sh*t!" The laughter began there, but it's that kind of quiet laugh that is heard only after you run out of breath, and since they were laying down the first tracks to work with they kept rolling. It IS hilarious! Another Anthology crack up is "And Your Bird Can Sing". Right at the intro, you can hear especially well with the cd and headphones, cutting the low end (bass, duh) down. You can hear what sounds like someone yawning and smacking their lips, which sets the entire sequence of events into play!; 2 of 2 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Spyder writes:: If you reverse the WAV file above, I can make out the word "Superman" but not the rest!; 1 of 1 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Jen jens writes:: if you read the little book that comes with the new CD version it says that the big sound mess thing is a collection of bits of recorded conversations turned upide down and back to front and looped, and that the high pitched noise was put there on John's request to make peoples dogs bark for no apparent reason!; 1 of 1 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Sheila writes:: I don't know about all that "play backwards" stuff, because i don't have anything that will do that, but what I think they are saying {normally} on the cd is "Never you see any other way" with someone in the background saying "Are you Santa." I don't know, it's just an idea.; 3 of 5 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Michelle writes:: (oops, i think my first attempt to post this may have gone through while i was still writing it.)The words are not at the end of the song.. they dont belong with the last song on the album. They originally appeared on the vinyl album on the track at the end of the record that would play over and over again if the tone arm never came up off the record. The words are actually "never to see any other way" and would play over and over again as long as the tone arm stayed in that final grove. It refers to people who are stuck in their way of thinking and never will open their minds to see things another way. If you listen to this on the cd version they have put a few repetitions of it as the final track of the cd.; 5 of 9 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Stef writes:: It seems I'll have to say this again...but the words aren't coherent speech at all, they were just a few seconds of Beatle talk recorded, then the tape cut up and taped back together randomly to create a wash of nonsense. There is no actual meaning to the words, they are a collection of backwards and upside down mutterings. This wasn't the first time The Beatles used this cutting up of tape and sticking it back together in their records, it was also used in Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite on the Sgt. Pepper album to create the whirly organ sounds in the background and employed for the same reason at the end of A Day in The Life to confuse listeners...sorry to disappoint everyone who found hidden meaning...; 2 of 3 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Coolbuzz writes:: The gibberish at the end of the album................ "Never could be any other one" repeated many times by Paul, followed by George repeating "purrum pum pum" in response. The high pitched noise was put on the end of the album by John Lennon to, and I quote him "sh*t your dog". Those who think these statements are incorrect are deaf, completely uninformed or both................; 5 of 9 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Michael Allen writes:: If you read the George Martin book "With A Little Help From My Friends", a document of the production of "Sgt. Pepper", you'll notice that he goes into detail about the final chord of the album. Supposedly, "Pepper" engineer Geoff Emerick had the faders at their top volume by the end in order to sustain said chord, and since everyone in the studio was being absolutely silent, the only background noise recorded was that of the Abbey Road air conditioning system�a whirring kind of sound. I'm biased towards Martin's recollection in this case. I don't know, it might be Ringo jostling his stool and then being shushed, but it doesn't sound like that to me.; 2 of 3 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Karen writes:: I have an early UK mono vinyl (late 1967-early 1968) pressing of Sgt Pepper's. On my version the "noise" heard on the final groove of side two, when played backwards in a loop, is clearly the voice of John Lennon saying "Put it back you cheeky bugger" with a repeated "Ha Ha,Hee Hee" laughter in the background.; 1 of 1 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Dylan Rush writes:: I hear "Never kissing any other one" with "ba ba ba" in the background.; 1 of 2 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

T-Bone writes:: That gibberish is kind of like an inkblot test. Everybody that listens to it brings their own experience to it and no one will hear the same thing as some one else. After listening to it, I hear at least 3 voices: Paul: "Never could see Annie's underwear" George: "Carlos Santana" John: "I want to...love you"; 4 of 8 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Giggi writes:: I thought that Briar's first comment was just a joke...... BUT i tried with windows recorder and i found that it was true!!!! Just with a little difference... i hear "I will f##k you as do Superman"..... FRIGHTENING!!!! =8-|; 4 of 8 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

pizza man moose writes:: I hear it as :Oh for what never to see henny oh for what. What that means, I don't know. I heard it off the rarities LP so that might have something to do with it.; 0 of 0 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

smegpants writes:: John, George and Ringo are saying "Never could speak any other way." It's a reference to their prediction that Paul would be the first Beatle to die. See the egg in the albums/Sgt. Peppers section.; 0 of 0 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

RonJLow writes:: OOPS. I meant: "Never could see any other one." Now I'll shut up.; 0 of 0 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

guybrush writes:: Sounds like "I will always like superman" to me; 2 of 4 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

The floccinaucinhilipilificator writes:: I played the clip backwards and DID hear "I will f*** you like S-Super man" but I think that its just a coincidence since it doesn't sound like anybody could say it so inaudibly and expect people to hear it without being snickered at for being some sort of paranoid backward talking conspiracy freak OR some editing people just tried to take random talking, get the right sounds out of it, and make it sound like real words that could be thought to be "I will f*** you like Super man." BTW, for the people who don't bother listening to it, there are two voices I could hear- the one I just mentioned which was masked over a louder voice that seemed to say "never do see any other one" forwards and was much more clear, but that would take the fun out of it if that was all you were looking for.; 0 of 0 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

sublm1016 writes:: This is retarded. It even says in the CD booklet that it means NOTHING! If you hear that superman crap it's just your imagination-it's just what you want to hear, and what everybody is telling you to hear. It's just a random collection of recordings put together. Why would artists like the Beatles put something as pointless as "we'll f*ck you like superman" on their album?; 4 of 8 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

nightchain writes:: I just wanted to confirm Brandine's comment about the slip-up. You can definitely hear a chair squeak and "shhh" being said at the end. I was not able to hear the gibberish though.; 1 of 2 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

Jake writes:: wel it sounds like "Never could be any other way" and it supposedly says "Will Paul be back a superman" but according to a paul is dead website it says "we'll F*&^ you like a superman"; 0 of 0 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

thechickiscrazy writes:: I heard it as "never could be any other one." And I really don't buy into the Paul is dead theory.; 0 of 1 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

guess writes:: I think TBONE is on the right path. I have heard this song for years and always believed that 'Annie' was part of this craziness. However, believe that they are saying: 'Daddy go see Annie' I think this contributes to the suicide theme of the song. I know, kind of depressing. Cheers, kb; 0 of 1 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

lukeskydiver writes:: Why don't you just do as Jen Jens said and read the book in the album. It says that the end part is just bits taken from the studio recordings and put together in any way to sound very weird. The Beatles probably did it to confuse the public who will come out with cr*p like you lot are.; 1 of 5 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

johna10 writes:: Very good call. Brian was always trying to top the Beatles, as he felt threatened by them. He let his feelings out in several interviews, and I myself never put these together, and I enjoy both bands.; 0 of 3 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

RonJLow writes:: "Never could be any other one." Nine 8th notes snipped from a longer passage. No death predictions. No backwards talking. Now shut up.; 5 of 15 people found this comment helpful. Did you?

tim writes:: on sgt. peppers lonely hearts club band the last song "a day in the life" after the song completely finishes and about thirty seconds you hear a high piched sqeek and then it cuts into this backwards sounding thing. at the very first you hear people laughing and "There can be only one other way..." over and over again. its very creepy but i like to listen to it every once and a while because of the so-called "paul is dead" secrets.; 1 of 14 people found this comment helpful. Did you?